What’s your sense of luck when it comes to careers?
Some call it fate, some think it’s part of a grand plan and others might just think of it as a positive accident, but as I reflect on one phase of my career there are just too many unanticipated experiences that helped me move forward. If I hadn’t noticed the events or ignored them, I would have missed a defining career opportunity.
I’ll tell you my story, but this message Is designed to help you reflect on situations that seemed like luck in your career already. I also want to encourage you to be really, really open to situations that might seem random, but could provide very positive results.
Being open to possibilities Is one of the chapters in 7 Keys to a More Satisfying Future at Work, my book on Amazon. 60 senior level interviewees, from Apple to Xcel Energy, suggested what was very important for their positive career development and satisfaction when I interviewed them. The app Your 7 keys has more information and a short video about each key and especially number 7 which is about being open to new possibilities.
So now to my story. I had grown from salesmen to senior sales officer for a great company, but it was outside the industry that I had spent a number of years in previously. While flying to see a client, a seat mate put a three-ring binder up above his seat. It was from the industry that I had served in earlier in my career. I asked him about the binder and he told me that the president’s job of an industry trade association that I had once been a member of was open. He said that there were only a few days left in the search process. This was new opportunity/lesson number 1.
If I was going to use this unexpected opportunity, I needed to move quickly and get my resume updated and submitted to the headquarters company. I did that and after a number of preliminary telephone interviews I was chosen to be 1 of 5 finalists out of the 200 plus original candidates.
I was invited to Chicago for the final interview at a local hotel. I waited at the O’Hare Airport for the hotel bus to save cab fare. But it didn’t come and it didn’t come and I began to be concerned about being late, so I went to a cab and opened the door and said I’ll give you $20 to get me to the O’Hare Hilton. He said, “get in, now open he door on the other side of the cab and get out. You’ve been standing here looking at the hotel since you arrived.” I walked across the street to the hotel. On the flight, I had psyched myself up and was ready to blow in there and make a huge impact. But the cab experience helped me let go of my ego and to return to a sense of my true self. This was new opportunity/lesson number 2. Happily, the interview went very well and I was ultimately chosen to lead the organization.
I still ask myself about these experiences. What if I missed the opportunity on the plane? What if I hadn’t had the humbling cab experience?
I encourage you to consider your own life situations that have been similar. What if you were not paying attention and had missed opportunities? How might your life or your career be different? How can we all be more open to opportunities that are yet to come? The 60 mentors say that Key 7 of the 7 keys, they called “Butterfly” moments, are so often missed. Are we overly involved in distractions like our phones or current events, or other issues in our lives? For some of us, they noted, we’re simply not willing to act on new possibilities that might pop up before us.
So I encourage you not to let opportunities slip by. Be open to them. It doesn’t mean that you need to act In every situation. It’s just that being numb to them or a bit afraid to take a chance on something new can limit your career or your life in general. Enjoy life to the fullest.
So, whether its Luck or something else, being open to “messages and opportunities” that come before us helps us make the most of our lives.